Recipes to Warm the Soul (That Actually Include Vegetables!)
I tumble, tumble, tumble some more, and I’m still tumbling. Okay, now I’ve skidded to a halt. Learning to ride a bike is incomplete without falling down the entire driveway -- or, at least that’s what my mom told me as she handed me a slice of her famous zucchini bread. As painful (and embarrassing) as this tumble was, which by the way took place in front of the entire neighborhood, my mom’s magical zucchini bread took away a little bit of the sting from my now throbbing road rash.I know what you’re thinking, zucchini bread made you feel better? Yeah, right! That is also what your kids are thinking as you try to sneak vegetables into their strictly chicken-nugget-with-a-splash-of-mac-n-cheese quarantine diet. I will never forget the time I (nearly) mastered the art of sneaking in vegetables. For weeks I had been making “mashed potatoes.” My kids were three, four, and five at the time and no one had figured out that the “mashed potatoes” were actually cauliflower. Leave it to my 4-year-old to call me out at dinner one night -- in front of everyone else who was scarfing down those “mashed potatoes” -- and suspiciously announcing “hey… this gravy tastes like vegetables.”While it wasn’t exactly the gravy that tasted like vegetables, my cauliflower mashed potatoes still needed a bit of work. It turns out that the secret ingredient is a little bit of cheese. Cheese, in general, makes everything better. So, add cheese to your cauliflower mashed potatoes and I can pretty much guarantee even your 22-year-old son will not be able to tell the difference (after a few glasses of wine, of course). Now that the only vegetables you can find at Safeway are cauliflower, zucchini, and maybe some squash -- you have a few more options on what to make.I highly recommend attempting to bake your own zucchini bread. Not only will this give you something to do, but it is one of my favorite ways to sneak vegetables into everyone’s diet. It tastes surprisingly good with no “added” ingredients, but personally I always add chocolate chips. I know it isn’t quite as healthy but sue me for needing a little bit of chocolate in my life right now!Here is a killer zucchini bread recipe from allrecipes.com (don’t forget to add the chocolate chips!)
Photo and recipe from allrecipes.com, Mom's Zucchini Bread
And here is a great recipe for the cheesy "mashed potatoes" from I Breathe I'm Hungry.
Photo and recipe from I Breathe I'm Hungry, "Better than Potatoes" Cheesy Cauliflower Puree - Low Carb